Junk mail tree
I like change. I like to craft. I like quirky. I like to reuse.
Put them together and you get my quirky, hand-crafted, reused junk mail/magazine tree.
For years, we’d carted this Costco tree with its green silk leaves, from house to house.
It stood in a corner adding the look of greenery and a bit of needed height to the decor.
But one day I looked at it and decided I’d had enough. That tree was borrrr-ing!
Either it had to go or I needed to figure a way to bring new life to it.
Out of the corner of my eye I spied a pile of junk mail that ignited my imagination.
It took me several months to replace all the faded silk leaves with paper ones. But it was so worth it to create this living room conversation piece.
Junk mail tree how-to
What you need:
A tree with fake leaves
Small piece of cardboard
Junk mail, magazines etc.
White glue
Scissors
How to:
1. Draw a leaf template on the cardboard and cut out.
2. Draw around the leaf shape on a magazine page or piece of junk mail and cut out. You’ll need two leaves for each one you want to make. Make as many leaves as you think you’ll need. Believe me it will take more than you plan. But the beauty of this project is that you can make more over time.
3. Spread glue on the back sides of two leaves.
4. Hold them glued sides together over a thin branch for 10 seconds so they will seal around the branch.
5. Repeat 5000 times. (Only half kidding.) Or as many times as needed to cover the tree’s branches with leaves.
If you make a similar tree, send the pictures. Would love to see it!
This post is part of the Upcycled Crafting Challenge (#freefromtrash) hosted by Calley, The Eco Chic, and is part of a one month challenge to create from trash. This challenge hopefully will open your eyes to the number of items we still end up trashing every day that could be used by ourselves or our kids ot create fun and useful items. To find out more about the challenge and to see other projects, click on over to Calley’s announcement page.
Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson are mother and daughter and authors of Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family, and founders of Green Halloween®.
